Prehealth Advising

Welcome to the Prehealth Advising page!

A career in health is a commitment to making a lifetime of difference. Exploring different paths and programs is a crucially important (but not always easy) part of the journey. We’re here to give you all the support you need as you explore different careers in the health field, then prepare for and apply to a range of top-tier health profession schools and programs.

Our dedicated prehealth advising team will help you explore your interest in health professions, and explore careers that impact healthcare. We work to demystify every step of the application process, sharing our expertise and experience in researching programs, understanding prerequisites and requirements, writing essays, and preparing for interviews. It’s an intense and involved process that requires insight and perspective, one-on-one support. And that’s exactly what we provide to every student. 


What we offer:

A woman wearing glasses and wearing scrubs smiles at the camera.

Individualized appointments

Prehealth Advising is here for you through every step of the process. This includes exploring an interest in medicine, looking for volunteer opportunities or applying to medical school. Need advice? Plan an appointment that fits your schedule.

A man wearing a lab coat looks into a microscope.

Expert advice

From exploring the health field to preparing for your career to submitting your application, our expert staff are here for you every step of the way.


A person takes notes while watching four people in a virtual meeting on a tablet screen.

Virtual Drop-Ins

Have a quick question or need some just-in-time advice? Prehealth On Demand Drop-Ins take place from 8am-5pm Monday-Friday. In order to ask for an On Demand Drop-In, email prehealth@mit.edu and ask for an On Demand Drop-In and provide several times that may work for you that same day! Once the office sets up a time with you, an individual zoom link will be sent to you.

A group of students engaged in a live medical simulation.

Explore: Discover Prehealth

Attend a five day program before MIT’s orientation to explore what being prehealth at MIT is all about. Through this program, students hear from current prehealth students and faculty about what it is like to be prehealth at MIT. They also explore a potential career in medicine through activities at local hospitals, research labs and medical schools.


Akunna Rosser presents to an engaged classroom.

Explore: Careers in Medicine Course (SP.252)

This first-year discovery subject offered each fall semester allows you to explore your interests in the medical field and learn about possible career paths. Speakers include Physician-Scientists (MD-PhD), Researchers (PhD), Biomedical Engineers,and Healthcare Administrators to name just a few.

A physician talks to a nurse.

Explore: Physician Shadow Program

Through a one day experience at a local area hospital, students shadow a physician for a day to learn about what a day in the life is like to be a physician.


A professor speaks to her class.

Prepare: Medical Interpreting Course

This 4-week IAP course trains multilingual MIT community members in core principles, standards of practice, ethics, and medical terminology. Participants will be qualified to work or volunteer as interpreters in healthcare settings upon completion of the 40-hour course.

A gloved hand holding a vial while another hand writes notes on a sheet.

Prepare: MIT Clinical Research Externship

This is a summer six week program that allows students to explore the area of clinical research at a local Boston area hospitals. Students engage with small scale projects as well as observe physicians throughout the six week program.


Apply: Prehealth Credential Service

Prehealth Advising offers the prehealth credential service, an online system that helps you streamline your recommendation letter process when applying to medical/health profession schools.


Explore Careers in Medicine & Healthcare this IAP!

By Akunna Rosser
Akunna Rosser Senior Assistant Director, Prehealth Advising
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Learning to become a medical interpreter

You’re in the hospital with a serious condition. The doctor is asking you questions. The nurse is explaining your discharge instructions. The problem? You don’t understand or speak English. Or at least not well enough to grasp the complex information …

By Julia Mongo
Julia Mongo Staff Writer and Advisor
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First-year students discover medical careers in Prehealth Advising-led SP.252

”I’m not sure what I want to do, but I know I want a career where I can directly improve people’s health.“

These sentiments are what Prehealth Advising’s first-year discovery subject Careers in Medicine (CiS) SP.252 helps students explore and, …

By Akunna Rosser
Akunna Rosser Senior Assistant Director, Prehealth Advising
Read more

Medical Ethics and your Med/Health Professions School Application

When applying to health professions school, your ability to wrestle with complex ethical situations is an important predictor of how well you’ll be able to handle such situations as a practitioner.

Medical schools and other health professions schools assess this …

By Ariel Ackermann
Ariel Ackermann
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Top 5 survey data takeaways: MIT students have opportunities to be successful in many fields

This is MIT, so it’s no surprise that we love data. In 2021, students shared their experiences for three surveys, facilitated through Institutional Research: The Doctoral Exit Results Survey (DES) for PhD students, the Graduating Student Survey (GSS) for Bachelor’s …

By Lydia Huth
Lydia Huth Communications Specialist
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Sidebar

Featured Resources

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Handshake 101: What it is & how to use it

CAPD is committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment for everyone we serve. If you need any disability-related accommodations to …

The Guide to Shadowing a Physician includes a variety of tips and strategies to help you acquire a shadowing opportunity.

The Guide to Shadowing a Physician includes a variety of tips and strategies to help you acquire a shadowing opportunity. …

We recommend MIT applicants to medical school and other health profession programs use this guide when requesting your transcript, entering …

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Perhaps …

MIT Prehealth Advising’s “Workshop Your Why MD” guide will highlight the requirements for submitting your personal statement and offer tips …